Largest European grocer (in store count) Russian Magnit continues to expand its Discount Retail Chain «Моя цена» (translated My Price) and plans to open 10 more stores in this format by the end of 2020. The first three 'My Price' stores in Volgograd, Samara and Ulyanovsk regions were opened in the summer. According to Ruslan Ismailov, director of retail chain management at Magnit, two of them showed very good results following the pilot project. The third store required additional adjustments and is now reaching its sales targets as well. In total, by the end of 2020, it is planned to open ten stores in the discounter format . “Those stores that we tested during the pilot project are located, relatively speaking, somewhere in the middle between active residential development and transport hubs. These are the points to which, as they say, you need to get. They were selected based solely on reporting results. Their results as convenience stores varied between average and average minus. We made a bet that shoppers would better perceive them in a new format. This is exactly what happened, since our new discount format offers a certain small SKU assortment range at lower prices. Now we are expanding this strategy to more stores,” Ismailov says. According to the estimates the cost of opening a discounter is 5-6 times lower than the cost of opening a standard convenience store. Click here for more: https://www.retail.ru/news/magnit-prodolzhit-otkryvat-diskauntery-moya-tsena/

Discount Retail Chains have been the first choice for Poles for years. They are close to the customer, have a wide offer, attractive prices, and have a significantly improved purchasing experience. In the times of COVID-19, the discount format could even create a further distance competitors. Will the specter of the economic crisis strengthen their position? Discounters are, next to the e-commerce channel and convenience stores, the "beneficiary" of the coronavirus. Their share in the sales value of food products in Poland is still growing, according to Nielsen data. From February to May, discounters increased their share in this category from 36%. up to 40 percent Stimulate consumption After the July whiff of optimism related to the positive indicators of retail sales, August cooled down the moods. Poles spend their zloty more carefully. This could be a big opportunity for discount formats. 'Retail sales in July showed that Poland is returning to the path of much-anticipated V-shaped economic recovery. However, August sales results are below forecasts and did not confirm the previous expectations regarding the recovery of the trend. Looking for positive sides, they certainly include the increase in retail sales in several important categories related to the everyday needs of consumers', says Ewa Białek, director of the department of trade and manufacturing and food industry at DNB Bank Polska. In their latest report, Allianz Research and the Economic Research Department of Euler Hermes point out that retail sales are not consumption, but the rebound in consumption is not permanent and does not simply aim to restore the pre-crisis situation. According to the authors of the report, the rebound in activity seen in many consumption-driven sectors is likely to be short-lived. In particular, companies from the retail sector should not expect a full and lasting improvement in the level of sales. The increase in sales that followed the lockdown will gradually fade away and consumers will begin to feel the unpleasant effects of rising unemployment. Meanwhile, profit margins will continue to be influenced by price pressures as well as the additional costs of running stores during a severe health crisis. The situation of all sectors will depend on the scale of the reduction of economic activity in the event of a prolonged coronavirus epidemic. Most sectors return to normal slower or faster, believes Piotr Bujak, chief economist of PKO BP. In his opinion, the protracted pandemic may increase consumer fears of losing a job or lowering wages and prompting to cut expenses. The position of discounters offering food and non-food products at promotional prices will strengthen, the expert predicts. Click here fore more: https://www.dlahandlu.pl/wiadomosci/,91263.html

Discount Retail Chain Lidl Netherlands (owned by Schwarz Gruppe) started building its large Dutch distribution center in Almere (near Amsterdam). The German concern has bought 16 hectares of land. Lidl's distribution center should be operational by 2022. "We chose Almere because the availability of a large plot was possible here," explains director of real estate Lidl Netherlands Harm van Oorschot. "And the excellent accessibility from the A6 and A27 and the central location in the country have played an important role." The arrival of the Lidl distribution center will involve 300 jobs. Sustainable distribution center Sustainability is an important theme at this DC. Lidl Netherlands has already built several distribution centers that are among the most sustainable in Europe. Almere will not be an exception. Lidl is also aiming for the highest achievable BREEAM certification with the Almere distribution center, with 5 stars ranked as 'Outstanding'. Largest and most sustainable DC in Oosterhout The announcement of the new DC follows shortly after the official opening of Lidl's largest and most sustainable distribution center in Oosterhout (near Nijmegen and close to the German border), where a 55,000 square meter DC has recently been put into use. Last year Lidl International opened another large fruit distribution center in Moerdijk, close to the harbor of Rotterdam. Click here for more: https://www.omroepflevoland.nl/nieuws/195450/groot-distributiecentrum-lidl-verrijst-langs-a27

In recent years, due to increasing promotional pressure, the share of private label brand sales in Russia has ceased to grow and even decreased. But the pandemic turned the trend abruptly. And although the promotion pressure is not weakening, now the growth rates of sales of goods under private labels on the FMCG market outstrip the growth rates of the market itself. The experts from Nielsen in Russia spoke about why retailers should develop private labels and what consumer trends contribute to their success in the long term during the Retail Connect on Private Labels conference held at the IPLS exhibition. According to Nielsen, today 81% of Russian buyers purchase goods under the private label of retail chains. And exactly the same number of consumers compare prices for private labels and brands. As Philip Klevtsov, the head of the group for work with retailers at Nielsen Russia , noted , the private label has quite tightly entered into everyday life and the shopping basket and will not leave it no matter how the income of buyers changes - decrease or increase. Nielsen polls confirm this: consumers say they will continue to buy private label goods regardless of income. What happened to PL during the pandemic? In terms of the degree of private label penetration into the shopping basket, Russia still lags significantly behind many European countries (in some, more than 40%). The share of private label sales in Russia in 2011 was 1.7%, in the last three years it exceeded 4%, but it did not grow, but decreased. But the situation has changed. The pandemic has forced 34% of shoppers who have never bought online before to start shopping online. The share of online sales of FMCG goods has grown rapidly by 1.8 times - from 1.8% at the beginning of 2020 to 3.3% in May 2020. Accordingly, online sales of private labels also increased - by 174% in July 2020. compared to the situation a year earlier. Online Russians prefer to buy private label products such as diapers, dairy products, hard and soft cheeses, coffee and tea, toilet paper, pet food. If in 2019 private labels showed a year-on-year growth of 5.5% in monetary terms, then in 2020 the rates tripled to 15.4%. Now, in terms of growth rates, private label sales are ahead of brands, which in the food segment are growing by 4.8%, and in the non-food segment are stagnating by 0.8%. “All this suggests that the share of private labels in the FMCG basket of retailers is now stable and demonstrates constant growth. The pandemic gave retail an opportunity to invest in private labels and find a new source of growth in them, ”stressed Philip Klevtsov. What is the reason for the popularity of private labels on the market today? Rosstat officially recorded that by the end of the second quarter of 2020, the drop in real incomes of the population was 8%. What's going on with the promo? Against the background of rush demand at the beginning of the quarantine, promotional activity decreased: the availability of goods on the shelves was more important than prices for these goods. Now the pressure is returning to its growth rate. According to a survey by Nielsen, 53% of buyers believe that the number of shares has not changed, while 32% admit that they are looking for promotions and discounts more often. The data of the analytical company show that the average share of promo in kind reached 56% by June 2020 (over 12 months), while in 2018 it was 52%. Nielsen has calculated the FMCG rebate investment based on the average rebate for the top 10 categories in each industry from the top 10 manufacturers in each category. The amount turned out to be impressive - more than 380 billion rubles, including 240 billion rubles (US $4.93bn). - in food categories, RUB 60+ billion (US $780mn) - in non-food categories, RUB 70+ billion (US$ 910mn) - in alcohol. And against the background of these huge investments, there is a decrease in the effectiveness of the promo. The share of promotions that generate additional sales growth dropped from 53% to 46% over the year. “The largest retailers have been losing margins not for the first quarter or for the first year,” said Philip Klevtsov. "Now is the point where private label development has become a source of growth and profitability for retailers." How long will private label growth continue in Russia? Today all more or less prominent retailers are developing private labels. The development of the segment began with “first price” products, then brands of the “affordable quality” category appeared, now on the shelves of chains you can see many different private labels in different price segments. According to a syndicated study by Nielsen, among the main factors influencing the growth of private label purchases, buyers note: - high quality for reasonable money; - private brands inspire trust; - the taste of products matches the taste of manufacturers 'brands; - the quality of private brands corresponds to the quality of manufacturers' brands; - the factor of low prices is only in 16th place. The data also show an increase in interest in more expensive private labels: 27% of high-income buyers began to buy private labels more often, 33% are ready to buy more expensive private label goods, 65% are interested in the premium segment of private labels. Earlier in the segment of high-income buyers, such numbers were not observed, which means that there was a switching of consumers. During the pandemic, the basket of purchased goods under private labels has changed and expanded significantly. Consumers have become much more likely to prefer private labels in categories such as alcohol, tea, cleaning products. It is impossible not to mention the trend for healthy lifestyle. 79% of shoppers surveyed by Nielsen are interested in private label products for healthy eating. All this gives reason to say that consumers have appreciated goods under private labels, private label sales will continue to grow, and retailers should invest in their development. “The promotion was not only an organic barrier to private label sales growth, but also devalued the value of brands in the eyes of consumers,” said Roman Fomin, Head of Retail Group at Nielsen Russia. Therefore, the consumer, faced with the challenges of the pandemic, began to show more active interest in private labels. And we see that today buyers are more open to this segment. Moreover, they are open not only to goods of the first price, but also to more premium ones. On the other hand, retailers have also started to actively develop private labels in premium categories. Thus, today private label is not only a point of differentiation for a retailer, but also a segment that can provide a retailer with long-term growth." Need support in your Private Label brand strategy, business development or SKU portfolio restructuring please see our Private Label DRC services on: https://www.discountretailconsulting.com/private-label

The richest German national is Dieter Schwarz (80 years old). It is not the first time he made it to the top of the list, with a fortune of 41.8 billion Euro (49.5 billion U.S. Dollars or 38.3 billion Pounds Sterling). His company, Schwarz Gruppe, with an annual turnover of 113.3 billion Euro (134.1 billion Dollars or 103.8 billion Pounds), runs the discount retail chain Lidl (since 1973), supermarket chain Kaufland (since 1968) and several grocery related production and services firms. Click here for more: https://berlinspectator.com/2020/09/20/wealth-who-are-the-richest-germans/

Discount Non-food Retail Chain Poundland (owned by South African Steinhoff Holding) stepped up its transformation by revealing that it would launch brand new homeware shop-in-shops right across the UK and in its Irish Dealz stores. All of Poundland’s 800+ stores will be putting its all-new contemporary PEP&CO Home brand (owned by Discount Homeware and Textile Retail Chain Pepkor another division of Steinhoff International) on display this week with over 120 of its larger locations also getting brand new displays to show off the revamped range. The launch of PEP&CO Home at Poundland marks the biggest in-store change since Poundland rolled out clothing shop-in-shops to 300+ stores and is another building block in the massive transformation plans announced by the UK’s most popular discount retailer in July. (see https://www.discountretailconsulting.com/post/uk-poundland-unveils-major-transformation-programme) The homeware revamp has been 12 months in the making and brings an on-trend, contemporary, and exclusive home and décor range to Poundland alongside a major refresh of how the products are displayed and merchandised. While customers will be offered choice of new items that wouldn’t be out of place in a Swedish home furnishings store or a Danish boutique, the value will be extraordinary. The new brand will be introduced this week with items to put the finishing touches to any home such as photo frames, ornaments, vases, plant pots, faux plants and flowers, candle holders, cushions bath and towels and stylish throws. During the summer and autumn, new lines will be added as PEP&CO Home establishes itself as a go-to brand on the high street. Baker Street’s Lündon Pad mystery solved To demonstrate the amazing value of Poundland’s new PEP&CO Home range, earlier this month Poundland secretly put its new ranges on display in a Baker Street pop-up shop, on Instagram and online and filmed customer’s reaction. Under the faux Scandinavian -brand “lündon pad” – an anagram of Poundland – the discount retailer filmed customers’ reactions to the new ranges. The launch of PEP&CO Home now solves the mystery that gripped influencers as to who was behind Baker Street’s new lündon pad pop-up shop, just down the road from Sherlock Holmes’ fictional home. Its products were also featured on a lundonpad.com website and at the Instagram account lundon_pad where they received an enthusiastic response from social media influencers. Some lündon pad admirers were so impressed by the ranges that they said they would pay up to £400 ($528) for some items and were gobsmacked when they were told items in the new range could be bought at Poundland for between £1 ($1.32) and £10 ($13.20). Classy PEP&CO Home Ranges at Poundland prices Following PEP&CO clothing and frozen and chilled foods, PEP&CO Home will be the third shop-in-shop to be rolled out to its stores since it began its transformation programme. The move also builds on the growing popularity of Poundland’s PEP&CO clothing brand, which is Britain’s fastest-growing fashion brand, serving 15 million customers a year. Already popular for its kidswear, women’s and men’s fashion, the launch of the new PEP&CO Home range marks the biggest change in its offer in its five-year history. Poundland’s transformation accelerates Poundland’s trading director Tim Bettley said: “We’ve been working overtime on the introduction of PEP&CO Home to Poundland and we can’t wait to launch this week. “PEP&CO Home is a contemporary range, offering both quality and amazing value– from everyday items to the ornaments that bring the finishing touch to any room. “And we know from our secret tests, customers are going to love the range, especially when they realise the value compared to other retailers.” The launch of the new range accelerates the biggest transformation in Poundland’s history announced in July. The “Project Diamond” transformation includes refreshing and refurbishing stores, new store opening and re-sites, extending the range of entertainment products and accelerating the rollout of chilled and frozen food to 60 stores. PEP&CO Home at Poundland will be available in all 800+ stores from 8am on Thursday 20 August. Over hundred stores will also receive new contemporary black display units that will showcase the ranges at their best co-located with the PEP&CO fashion shop-in-shop. Click here for more: http://www.lundonpad.com/

Discount Non-Food Retail Chain Poundland (owned by South African listed Steinhoff Holding) announced the biggest transformation programme in its history as it helps lead the recovery of Britain’s town centres. At a time when many high street names are battening down the hatches, the country’s most popular discount retailer has unveiled a package of measures that will bring customers even more choice and outstanding value for money. The transformation plans, internally dubbed Project Diamond, include changes to stores, pricing, and the overall breadth of the offer: Investing in stores & systems Refreshing and refurbishing stores, from the smallest convenience stores to larger destination stores. Pressing ahead with new stores and re-sites to bring Poundland to new towns such as Ingoldmells in Lincolnshire and expand in existing towns such as Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham. Three Dealz stores opened in the Republic of Ireland in Rathfarnham, Buncrana and Clonakilty. Investing in new back office technology, through its Oracle/ERP programme and making wi-fi available in every store. Completing move from single to simple price retailer Completing the simple pricing roll-out across the whole store by the autumn, meaning every category will have extended ranges at prices above and below £1. Broadening the Offer Accelerating the rollout of chilled and frozen food to 60 stores and extending it to more later in the year. Building on the success of Poundland’s PEP&CO fashion brand by opening six additional compact ‘shop-in-shops’ bringing a confident clothing offer to more than 310 locations. Launching a brand new ‘shop-in-shop’ concept later in the summer that will step-change its general merchandise offer. Piloting a poundland.co.uk home delivery service early next year from a new online fulfilment centre in Cannock. Project Diamond is set to bring the widest offer to Poundland and Dealz stores in the UK & Ireland through a revamp of stores and the tailoring of the offer for three types of store: Destination stores offering the fullest range of products including food, homeware, health and beauty and clothing. Core stores offering a wide range of products on high streets customers love. Convenience stores offering “grab and go” easy shopping. The latest Diamond stores to go live, stretch from Consett, Newcastle and Cleveland in the North East to Slough, Thurrock, Pitsea and Borehamwood in the South East, all offering the new chilled and frozen ranges. By the end of July more than half of the planned 60 stores will have the new offer, with the remainder completed by early September. PEP&CO celebrated its fifth birthday in July and its full range of family fashion is now on offer in over 300 Poundland stores. To bring its amazing value to even more customers, a new compact shop-in-shop format has been developed for smaller stores, taking up a third of the space and still offering a comprehensive range. Trialled in five stores last year, the new format has already been extended to another three this year. The shift from a single price to a simple price retailer is also picking up. Three quarters of products are still sold at the core £1 ($1.26) price point, but prices from 50p ($0.63) to £5 ($6.28) have allowed Poundland to widen the range of products in health and beauty, household and grocery. The simple price rollout will be completed by October – one year after it was launched. As well as investing in stores, Poundland’s transformation plan also includes the launch of a pilot online service using one of its three stores in Cannock which will close and begin its conversion into an online fulfilment centre. This is the biggest transformation in Poundland's history as it looks to secure its future for another thirty years. Click on image for more:

Discount Retail Chain Lidl and its sister supermarket chain Kaufland (both owned by German SCHWARZ Gruppe) are combined the market leader in Croatian grocery retail, surpassing local supermarket chain Konzum as as competitor. Next to that Lidl's employees earn the highest average net salary in the grocery sector. This is revealed by figures published by Lider "the 1,000 largest companies". According to these figures the Lidl and Kaufland hold about 25% of the retail market in Croatia (Lidl 15% and Kaufland 10%). Konzum is at about 20%, Spar has 13%, and Plodine about 12%, according to a report from Danica. Last year, the company Konzum had US $1.2 billion in revenue, which is a drop of as much as 20% compared to the previous year. Lidl generated US $0.92 billion in revenue with a growth of 13%. Third is convenience store Spar with US$0.76 billion, which is 6% more, fourth is Plodine (US $0.69 billion and a growth of 3.6%), and fifth is Kaufland (US $0.61 billion and plus 7%). By far the largest profit before tax was made by Lidl: as much as US $68 million. The second is supermarket Plodine with US $26 million, and the third supermarket Tommy with US $24 million. The highest average net salaries are also paid at Lidl and last year amounted to US $1,330, an increase of 11%. Kaufland is second with US $1,070. As Konzum paid an average net salary of US $565. Lidl is active in Croatia since 2006, with significant start-up problems, it has 102 stores and two distribution centers. Lidl shows again that being consistent and persistent discount retail is an extremely successful business model, outperforming competition and is well accepted by local shoppers and good for further economic growth in a country. Click here for more: https://www.posao.hr/clanci/vijesti/hrvatska/u-lidlu-prosjecna-placa-8450-kuna/12752/

US E-commerce giant Amazon earns 9% of its sales in the Clothing, Shoes & Accessories category from its private label brands. In response to US House Antitrust Subcommittee questions following the July 29th hearing, Jeff Bezos included a breakdown by department of Amazon’s private label brands share of total first-party sales. Measured in total Amazon’s sales, the Amazon private label brands per category performance as follows: Home & Kitchen: 4% Consumer Electronics: 3% Consumables: 2% In other departments: < 1% In the Clothing, Shoes & Accessories department, first-party sales of bought brands represented roughly 25% of total Gross merchandise value (GMV), first-party private label sales represented less than 3%, and the marketplace accounted for 72%. While the marketplace represents 60% of overall GMV, some departments are outliers. Specifically, Books was the only highlighted department where third-party sales represented just 26% of sales, less than the overall. In contrast, Home & Kitchen, Beauty, and Clothing, Shoes & Accessories departments outpaced the overall GMV share. Amazon’s private label brands represent less than 1% of total SKU listings, however. According to the data, the third-party marketplace represents over 90% of all SKU listings except for the Books department. Amazon’s most successful clothing brands are Amazon Essentials (men’s and women’s clothing), Simple Joys by Carter’s (children’s clothing), Goodthreads (men’s clothing), Daily Ritual (women’s clothing), and Lark & Ro (women’s clothing). The Clothing department has the highest number of brands launched by the company, and they combine to over 10,000 products, roughly half of Amazon’s private label portfolio. 9% is low compared to US big-box retailers, but here Amazon is presenting itself in the role of the underdog. Meanwhile it outperforms all US retailers in the segment and builds a massiv Amazon owned extremely profitable private label assortment based on the available of its online sales data. In February, Macy’s said it is on track for its Private Label brands to make up to 25% of sales by 2025. Target is at a higher percent already, and 50% of its own Private Label brands are in clothing. JC Penney is close to 50% of its sales from private label brands and was targeting 70%. Private Label Clothing brands are the most common and most profitable categories from store brands, with hugh potential to grow further. According to Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley, Amazon has quietly become the nation’s leading apparel retailer in value and volume. The company has ambitions in clothing beyond Amazon Essentials, like the Vogue x Amazon Fashion storefront launched in July, and the Fashion Stores luxury fashion offering announced in September. In the meantime, Amazon is filling gaps left by brands that have steered clear of the company with its own brands. Like the Amazon Essentials polo shirt that has been the number one best-seller for over a year. Other categories at Amazon are growing equally, making Amazon soon also the largest US retailer for Consumer Electronics, Beauty, Home & Kitchen, Softlines, Books, Consumables and Toys. DRC can help you further developing a successful PL category. Have a look at our Private Label service: https://www.discountretailconsulting.com/private-label

The in-store design of Germany's most ambitious discount developer is a continuous construction site. The in-store concepts and different tests changes more often than Lidl's top management team. At least Lidl has been in a continuous process of change for years, which is regularly reported by DRC. Unlike many competitors in the industry, Lidl seems to have said goodbye to the idea of ​​defining a standardised fixed in-store concept for all its stores and then sticking to it for a while. That is why Schwarz Gruppe recently set-up its new business division Schwarz Beschaffung GmbH, sourcing and selling more than 180,000 SKUs non-product related articles for Lidl and Kaufland, globally. New elements are constantly being added and / or old ones kicked-out again. Lidl is practically the Mary Shelley of discount in-store design. Currently, the renovations seem to be a bit more extensive than the last one, which can be read as a consistent readiness for modernization. Or as a basic nervousness, especially since some of it is reminiscent of measures that competitors have already implemented. A few weeks ago the German branch magazine “Lebensmittel Zeitung” first reported on “test stores” in the south of Germany, in which product categories and customer guidance were newly sorted. In the meantime, modifications are also being made in reopened stores, in e.g. Berlin. 1. Fruit and vegetables: Now also in L Lidl regularly positions its steadily growing SKUs in the category fresh fruits and vegetables at the store entrance. In the case of newly opened stores that offers a kind of freshness mole that stretches towards the entrance, across from the rounded ensemble of bake-off bread. But some of the existing stores are also being re-arranged. Paprika, zucchini, carrots & Co. welcome customers: inside, for example, in an inverted L-shaped shelf arrangement. In addition, there is a central island that can be walked all around, very similar to how Hofer demonstrated in Austria and Aldi Süd has taken it up in its latest concept of fresh food stores. The idea is therefore not entirely new, nor is the set-up necessarily clearer; But it looks a bit more like a regular supermarket and allows the fruit and vegetables category better stand out at the entrance of the store. In some Lidl stores, the organic goods are also additionally positioned in a bio category block close to the fresh section. Another new feature is that convenience snacks and drinks moved to a chilled section, which is right at the front of the store close to fruit and vegetables and bake-off bread. (Just like Aldi has been doing in its City of London stores) When fruit and vegetables buckle in the store, something has to buckle on the other side as well - which undermines the well-known Lidl longitudinal shelf logistics, at least in the front area of ​​the shop. But it looks very chic. 2. Product range labeling: say what's inside In order not to let the shoppers and employees run too badly into disorientation, Lidl has decided to put a new color-coded category range indication directly above the shelves, and not just on the side walls. Presented in the Lidl font it says what can be found on the shelf. The categorization is much more differentiated than the previous in-store shopper guidance. It is differentiated in sub-categories such as: "Milk and cream", "yoghurt and quark", "sweets and fruit gums", "paper and hygiene", "Noodles & Co." or just "tea". Which is quite practical. And was a little bit overdue. 3. Product presentation: active shelf rondel Even if the originality of many (test) changes is limited, Lidl achieves directly visible changes. Especially in the area to the entrance side. Here space reducing brackets for running and upcoming flyers are visible mounted for shoppers at the entrance and exit. In the store the wine bottles are placed in a rondel shelf that is positioned at the top of the gondola, some of bottles standing, some laying in wooden boxes. The "regional diversity" is explicitly emphasized - also in existing stores - by presenting the respective product category in a block at the top of the gondola. 4. (Frozen) cooling: Next generation chests Speaking of refrigeration: the time of the deep freeze chest, into which shoppers had to bend deeply to take out the last promotional item, seem to go to an end. In the frozen category at the end of the store in front of the cash registers, Lidl relies on unrestrained vertical freezers with floor-to-ceiling doors, shelves and wire baskets. In smaller stores pork, beef, poultry and fish are also sorted into full-length vertical refrigerator cabinets (with doors!) Here all fresh meat and fish categories have their own color coding (blue, yellow, red, light blue), see below. In larger stores, Lidl use chilled cabinets that open to the side, see below. 5. Wood look: light but cheap The wood look simulation are no longer just on the fruit and vegetable shelves and around the in&out promotional baskets but also on the walls in the cash register zone and PET bottle recycling area and around the bake-off area. In addition, all price rails have been given the light wooden background, as have the new category range dividers on the shelves. Lidl will continue with renovation in the next few months as the Mary Shelley of the German discount comes up with new ideas to ​​tweak her in-store design. Click here for more: https://www.supermarktblog.com/2020/09/07/dauerbaustelle-discount-1-lidls-l-gemuese-und-die-rueckkehr-der-motivklebefolie/

For the first time, the internationally active Schwarz Group, which essentially consists of the Kaufland and Lidl retail divisions, the GreenCycle / PreZero waste and recycling management and Schwarz Produktion, publishes its sustainability report. Under the title "Klartext" ('Plain Text'), the ecological, economic and social effects of the company's activities are disclosed within the four focus topics of quality of life, product quality, cycle and ecosystems. With this report, the Schwarz Group documents its range of activities in terms of a responsible corporate policy. The sustainability report covers the 2018 and 2019 financial years and should appear regularly in the future. The progress report was also integrated as part of membership of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), to whose goals the Schwarz Group has been committed to since joining in 2020. Click here for the Schwarz Gruppe CSR report: csr.schwarz/nachhaltigkeitsbericht

Discount Non-Food Retail Chain Don Don Donki (owned by the Japanese listed Pan Pacific International Holdings Corporation - PPIH) is to make its first debut into the Taiwanese market with the launch of a store in Taipei. The company has not yet revealed any details of the opening, however various sources have confirmed that the first store will be located in Ximending, Taipei. Don Don Donki is a favorite destination for Taiwanese tourists in Japan. The retailer offers a wide range of products with low prices. News of the new store opening in Taiwan spread quickly after it was spotted that the company was advertising to recruit new employees on local recruitment websites. According to the recruitment post,  Don Don Donki’s first store in Taiwan will be located in the Ximending business district and will sell fresh and cooked food. It is rumored to be a three-story store, but the exact address is still not disclosed. Operating over 160 stores in Japan, 3 in Hong Kong, 7 in Singapore, 2 in Thailand and 3 in Hawaii and very profitable. Don Don Donki is growing rapidly across Asia. For more info on PPIH and Don Don Donki's successful expansion and top profitability see our post: https://www.discountretailconsulting.com/post/japan-don-don-donki-s-earnings-and-profits-set-a-new-record-high